john haldane

Philosophy and Hindsight

Eleven years ago, I didn’t understand the Haldane position, because I was ignorant. Eleven years ago, I thought I understood the Hitchens position, because he made me feel good when he spoke. Working my way through a masters in philosophy eleven years later, I can say that I (mostly) understand them both. And frankly, in the light of that wisdom (such as it is), Hitchens is embarrassing. Take, for example, the first question Haldane presented to Hitchens: “what grounds the secular belief in human dignity?